REID and KNUCKEY (PTY) LTD

Established: 1906

Contractor

REID & KNUCKEY was established in 1906 with David Wilson REID and Wesley KNUCKEY as directors. A branch was opened in Cape Town on the 31st January 1939 with the same directors but DW Reid resigned in 1949 and his place was taken by George Blake GORDON with Wesley KNUCKEY as the other director.

Wesley KNUCKEY, was recognized as a Rand Pioneer in 1891 and was President 1929-30. He was also Chairman of the Cornish Association and President of the Master Builders Association around 1935/6.

Wesley's sons, William John KNUCKEY and Arthur Wesley KNUCKEY, also worked for the company.

Uncompleted contracts at 30th June 1950 were – Gresham Hotel, Voortrekkers Bpk., Harley Chambers, Jeppe Old Boys Quondam Club, Highland House. It seems that these "uncompleted contracts" were either completed or handed over to another contractor as at that stage REID & KNUCKEY was under Judicial Management and subsequently liquidated.

(The information was supplied by Lenore Knuckey, granddaughter of Wesley KNUCKEY, daughter of William John KNUCKEY)

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Transcript of newspaper article top right.

THE COLDEST SPOT
IN THE CITY
___________

CRANE-DRIVER'S SAD
LOT

The man with the bird's-eye view of the city is complaining of the cold – and the dust.

He is the driver of the crane 115 feet (35.05 meters) above Rissik Street, at the of Stuttaford's Building.

I climbed up to see him yesterday (writes a Rand Daily Mail representative). I shivered and asked him what he thought of the weather.

"Horrible!" he said among other things. "It's cold enough up here to make an Eskimo happy. The wind's the terror – overcoats, jackets and mufflers won't keep it out. A folded sheet of newspaper almost beats it, and then it gets at your ears and hands."

He pulled his fur-lined flying-cap further on and clapped his gloved hands, "This is about the coldest job in the city," he said. I agreed with him.

The 75 feet (22.86 meters) long jib swung over Rissik Street, and, in obedience to the whistle-blasts, dropped a ton-girder in place.

The driver paused.

"You couldn't see that yesterday," he said, and pointed to the distant Main Reef road dipping over the horizon.

"You couldn't even see the Rand Station for the dust. Tho city was lost under clouds of it. The 'curtains' were even higher than we were. And we got plenty of it up here - mostly in our eyes."

NINE STOREYS HIGH

To reach, the driver on his dizzy platform you go up nine storeys and crawl on to the cabin platform through a hole in the wall. Far below squat, beetle-like motor cars crawl by and dumpy humans glide past.

"It's a wonderful view, but-" said the driver, and shivered.

All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.